Zuiderdam Review
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Fourth HAL cruise, first on Zuiderdam. Like others, I was a bit apprehensive after reading about A/C and plumbing issues and ship being in disrepair but am happy to report that we experienced no issues nor did I hear anyone complain while on board. (our friends did experience a sewer odor in their bathroom, cabin 5187, but it was not noticeable at all in the main cabin area). In general, the ship was in great condition and we saw ongoing maintenance from the time we boarded the ship until we disembarked so they are obviously trying to keep her ship-shape. If we looked hard, we did notice some things that need to be replaced (e.g., carpet in waiting areas of the middle bank of elevators, table tops and fabric wall dividers in Lido, verandah table tops) but nothing that made us feel like we were sailing on a ship that needed to head for the scrap heap, or worse, that was unsafe. As we've always experienced on HAL cruises, the crew was wonderful, worked their tails off, and everyone we passed smiled and said something to us - from the captain to the person cleaning the stair railings.
We found the entertainment a bit lacking but not enough to detract from our overall experience. We did enjoy the BB King Experience but the volume was too loud for the size of the venue. The Adagio Strings (a pianist and a violinist) were wonderful and always had a nice size audience in the evening. We did not care for the CD's style (Hamish) but that's just our taste and nothing against him. We do enjoy the quieter atmosphere that HAL cruises provide.
Food in all venues was usually very good and with a fairly decent variety but service sometimes lagged and we especially noticed that in the Pinnacle Grill at breakfast and lunch. PG dinner was top-notch in all aspects. Canaletto dinner was nothing to write home about - it was extremely warm in the restaurant and we had a "herd of elephants" running overhead (from the open track on Deck 10) which really detracted from the experience. We didn't use room service so I can't comment about that.
Cabin Review
Second time in a Deluxe Verandah suite (now called Neptune Suite). Abundant storage, two sinks and separate tub/shower and shower. All linens were quite nice (bath towels oversized and nice weight, sheets soft) and when I asked for extra down pillows, we wound up with 12 pillows on our bed for the duration (LOL)! No exterior noise except if we were standing right next to the hall door we could hear the elevator ding but not in the stateroom itself. Love the free laundry and Neptune Lounge (and concierges Joy and Josephine were great) but other than that, find the HAL suites just don't have the size or wow factor (or overall perks) we've experienced in suites on Celebrity.